UEA completes its longest ever walkover bore

Posted 22 October 2014

UEA has completed and recently commissioned its longest ever HDD bore tracked via a DigiTrak F5Walkover Tracking System. The bore has the potential to be the longest of its kind completed using this type of bore location technology in Australia.

Undertaken as part of their Sydney Water PSP contract works, the 1,020m grade critical bore was completed by UEA’s Vermeer D300x500 Maxi Rig and support equipment.

Set up alongside a busy arterial road, the initial site layout and bore design was modified to accommodate existing services, pipeline grade requirements and the available set up room next to a federally protected endangered ecological community.

Relying on the DigiTrak F5 over this distance was something UEA hadn’t experienced before, a combination of the FX 12 Long-Range Transmitter (12kHz), SuperCell long life battery and Yagi Antenna provided an accurate and flawless bore path.

Commencing the pilot bore late on a Friday afternoon, works were set to continue on Monday as no weekend working was allowed on the project. Commencing at 0700 on Monday morning, the 1km pilot bore was completed without issue, on a single battery, without the need to trip out and the mud motor was out of the ground by 2pm Thursday. In total, 1,020m of Hawkesbury Sandstone was drilled in 39 hours on line and grade, which is a proud achievement of both the client and the UEA team.